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Woman who kept mother's mummified remains in psychiatric hospital

A 49-year-old French chemist who had kept the mummified remains of her mother in a trunk in her apartment in central Athens for nearly two years was remanded into the custody of the Greek capital's Dromokaiteio Psychiatric Hospital on Friday after a police psychiatrist ruled that she was suffering from serious mental problems.

The woman was arrested on Thursday after her landlord and a bailiff called the police when they discovered the remains of an elderly woman, identified as the tenant's mother, in a trunk in the apartment. The two men had entered the property in order to serve the 49-year-old woman with a notice of eviction as she had failed to pay rent since 2010. They discovered the body while taking inventory of the apartment's contents.

According to investigating officers, the 49-year-old's mother died in June 2012. The suspect, who faces charges of desecrating human remains, allegedly told police that she wrapped her mother's body in a car cover and wrapped it up in tape before placing it in the wooden trunk. The 49-year-old is also said to have moved into a hotel after the incident, telling neighbors that her mother was bedridden and unable to leave the apartment.

She allegedly also told investigators that she kept the remains so her mother "would not go."

A coroner is investigating whether the elderly woman died of natural causes.